This Year’s Music Books (So Far)

Wednesday is about books. And writing. Today it's music books. Here's all the music bios I've read (so far) this year. See anything you like? Anything you've already read?

I started reading music biographies and music-related texts when I was about 12 or 13. And I haven’t really ever stopped. For a while there I was so obsessive with it, that I had hundreds – maybe thousands – of books in the house that were about music. And I still have a couple of solid shelves full of music books I haven’t yet read. But to restore some balance, I sold and traded and gave away hundreds of the titles I had already read. Collecting is a wonderful thing, but it’s like gardening. You need to prune, shape, remove and promote regrowth…

Over the last couple of years, I’ve been re-emerging from a period of feeling burnt out as a music commentator. Leaving my post at Radio New Zealand was the right thing to do – a toxic culture pervades, and I felt bullied, buried, and unloved. It was an act of self-preservation to ditch the feature and review work there that I loved so much. And a result of that was my obsession with soundtrack music, ambient, jazz, and classical. Genres I’ve always been interested in – but they are my main focus these days. I also stopped reading music bios for a long time. But this year I’ve found a way back in, as I have with other old favourite forms of music. As I’ve retrained myself away from cataloguing every pop-cultural experience, and commenting on any new release of any kind, I’ve also managed to take some joy (again) from reading about music. Reading about music is one of my favourite things to do – I truly believe it heightens the experience of listening to music (which of course is another of my favourite things to do).

So today I wanted to offer an update around some recent music books I’ve enjoyed – and some I’m only just getting into. Apologies if I’ve mentioned any of these previously, and of course I’ve written whole posts and newsletters about certain key books (Bono, Nick Cave, etc) so I’ll not retrace those thoughts here. But over the last five or six months I’ve got right back into the music bio, the memoir, and even some of the lighter, trashier reads have felt rewarding; a kind of comfort-food I guess.

Okay:

No Beethoven: An Autobiography and Chronicle of Weather Report by Peter Erskine

Erskine is one of my all-time favourite drummers, and I finally got to his autobiography – which largely focuses on his time as a member of the jazz/fusion band Weather Report but does extend either side of that – in preparation for finally getting to see him play live and perform a drum clinic as well. Those were amazing experiences, particularly the gig. And I got to meet him and say hello (and thanks!) – which was a great bonus. This book is big-time music-nerdery and I loved it for that. A real drummer’s memoir. Which has set off a bit of a thing in me, and I’m not collecting up as many books about drummers as I can.

I Killed Pink Floyd’s Pig: Inside Stories of Sex, Drugs and Rock & Roll by Beau Phillips

A light (fun) read from a radio DJ and behind-the-scenes guy from another time. Phillips met everyone from the world of classic rock and was involved in putting on showcases, interviewing, and schmoozing. To read these anecdotes now is to be whisked away to another world entirely. No real analysis or insights here. But some good, breezy yarns.

Didn’t We Almost Have It All: In Defense of Whitney Houston by Gerrick Kennedy

I absolutely loved this book! It is a passionate fan-account of what the music (and world) of Whitney means and how it saved one person in particular. Which is bittersweet when Whitney herself could not be saved. It reminded me of the power of her early music, which I loved very much when I was young – but almost felt like I couldn’t admit it. No such shame now. I’m no diehard, and there are whole periods/albums I haven’t heard or couldn’t care about but the best of her work still shines. And what a tragic story.

Heavy Tales: The Metal. The Music. The Madness. As Lived by Jon Zazula

This was cool. The man that signed Metallica. Jon Zazula is a legendary footnote-figure in metal. For that alone. But also he ran a crucial record store, and then label. These are his memoirs and scrapbooks. I’m a fairweather metal fan I guess, but I really loved this.

Maybe We’ll Make It: A Memoir by Margo Price

I know I wrote something about Margo Price around the time this book was released. I’m a huge fan of her music – she’s one of the great up and coming country singer/songwriters. A legend in the making. And her story is a tough battle, her lived experience shines through in a great piece of writing. One of those memoirs where you don’t need to know the music at all, this is as much about mental health, addiction and motherhood as it is about the music. A wonderful book.

Van Halen Rising: How A Southern Californian Backyard Party Band Saved Heavy Metal by Greg Renoff

I might be a fairweather metal fan, but I’m a hardcore Van Halen devotee. This book had been on my reading list for years, so it was great to finally find time for it – once I did, I tore through it in almost one sitting. This tells the story of the very early Van Halen days, up to the first albums only, the David Lee Roth years. It’s a fascinating tale – and I guess the passing of Eddie a couple of years ago was what finally inspired me to read this one. Making it somewhat bittersweet of course. What a band though. What ethos. What a phenomenal work ethic, such prowess across the group. You know, the first truly big name I ever got to interview was Alex Van Halen, drummer for the band. He was funny and warm and I felt like I was floating. I couldn’t believe my luck. A mediocre hack-drummer getting to talk to a legend. I couldn’t help but think about that while reading this all those years later.

Dirty Blvd: The Life and Music of Lou Reed by Aidan Levy

As a teenager, Lou Reed was my main musical hero. And I read all the books I could find about him and The Velvet Underground. So it was kinda fun to just sink back into an old-school styled music bio; one that tells the tale from birth to death. In fact this was the first Reed book I’d got to since his death, the first one that was able to tell the full story. It got me listening back to a lot of the early music. It’s flawed and wonderful. And though this was really only a perfunctory reading experience it was elevated by what I brought to it as a reader.

Letters To Gil: A Luminous Memoir of Racism, Life in the Care System and the Power of Discovering Music under the Mentorship of Gil Scott-Heron by Malik Al Nasir

How’s that for an unwieldy and over-explaining title? This was a really good book though. I found it as part of the research I was doing for this essay and I’m glad I did. You’ll know from that piece of writing, and maybe from earlier, that I’m a huge Gil Scott-Heron fan. I didn’t know Malik Al Nasir before reading this book, and it’s more his story than Gil’s, more about poetry than music, but of course music is in there. He toured with Gil and writes lovingly about those memories. It was a really great book to stumble upon.

The Meaning of Mariah by Mariah Carey

I feel largely the same way about Mariah Carey as I do Whitney Houston. There was some odd shame in my life as a teenager to admitting that I liked her music – or at least some of it. And really I only dig things from the first three albums and then a song or two down the line. But now I have no such shame, nor should I – or anyone. There is an element of diva-parody about Carey I’ve always enjoyed, and couldn’t really ever know if it was manufactured, and whether Mariah was in on the joke, or if she had just disappeared up her own arse somewhat. When this book came out, I’d heard it was great. But I never found the time for it – so it was good to give it a go. I really enjoyed the way she wrote, her voice on the page is funny. And authoritative. And her insights into the industry and her treatment are fascinating and revealing. A huge star, obviously. And it didn’t get me any more hooked on large portions of her discography but I have more respect for her talent than I did going in.

Sex, Drums, Rock’n’Roll! – The Hardest Hitting Man in Show Business by Kenny Aronoff

I know Aronoff for his work as drummer with John Mellencamp. That’s his (initial) claim to fame. From there he has played with nearly everyone: Bob Dylan, Meat Loaf, Elton John, Iggy Pop, Melissa Etheridge. The list just goes on and on. And so for that, his book is great. I once saw him play live (he’s part of John Fogerty’s touring line-up also). That gig was phenomenal and he is truly a powerhouse. He’s not really my thing – as a drummer. Not really the style of player I take much from or care heaps about, but his story was cool. And it’s well told. He gets into the nitty-gritty of being a session/touring player. The long, draining hours. Managing egos. Fitting in. Being prepared to just hang and be part of the gang. So it’s got some instructive stuff in there for young musicians. And some incredible yarns around making iconic tracks – in particular his monumental drum fill (aping Phil Collins’ In The Air Tonight somewhat) for Mellencamp’s Jack and Dianne.

Don’t Tell Anybody The Secrets I Told You: A Memoir by Lucinda Williams

As with the Margo Price memoir, this is as much about poetry, family, and mental health as it is music. But of course you know and love Lucinda Williams, surely? She’s one of the great songwriters of the last 40 years. Well, that’s how I feel anyway. I was anticipating this book so hugely. And to date, it’s my favourite memoir – and one of my favourite reads – of the year. I should really write more about it one day soon. Perhaps I will.

A Preferred Blur: Reflections, Inspections, and Travel in All Directions by Henry Rollins

Yes, yes, I know Henry is a musician – a singer being one of the strings to his bow anyway. But I think of him always as a writer. And as music fan. That’s his true gift. This is the first of his books I had read in a while, one I’d owned since it was released (2007/ish) and I finally got to it in preparation for a talk with him ahead of his July tour to New Zealand for a set of spoken-word shows. You can hear that talk right here, a rare re-entry to the world of podcasting for me. And though I never once referenced this book in that chat, it was just nice to dip back into his world in this way. I love Rollins’ books. Again, they meant a whole lot more to me 20-30 years ago. But I still like to keep across the ones I haven’t yet read.

Play On: Now, Then and Fleetwood Mac by Mick Fleetwood

One of my favourite things to do within reading about music is reading about Fleetwood Mac. Reading about Fleetwood Mac is nearly as good as listening to Fleetwood Mac. And sometimes it’s even better. I’d read Mick’s earlier memoir – more a scrapbook of sorts. And though this book is nearly a decade old, I hadn’t ever got around to it. So off the shelf it came, and it was a fun, easy, engaging read. Some devastatingly good yarns around the old, well-worn topics of the band soap-opera, and creation of Rumours and Tusk. Again, a bit bittersweet reading it in the wake of Lindsey’s health scare and Christine’s death. And also counting towards my books by/about drummers…

My Appetite for Destruction: Sex and Drugs, and Guns N’ Roses by Steven Adler

Somewhere in-between reading about Fleetwood Mac and reading about Van Halen sits reading about Guns N’ Roses. They are no longer one of my favourite bands, and haven’t been for some while. But that doesn’t mean they weren’t once on the list. And reading about them is way more interesting than listening to them these days. I always felt Steven Adler was unfairly dismissed. He has a tragic tale of addiction, and ultimately failure. And they’re intertwined of course. But he was a great drummer on that first album, there’s no denying that. He is a big part of what makes the energy and propulsive of that wonderful record. And then he lost his way. And his attempts to find the path again are rather harrowing. So this was a grim book, but fascinating. I was glad to finally catch up with it.

My Life in the Purple Kingdom by BrownMark

Mark Brown was rechristened BrownMark by his boss when he entered the “Purple Kingdom”. That boss being Prince. The Purple Kingdom being the backing band, The Revolution and the world of Prince in the early/mid 1980s. This slight book is interesting if you’re a Prince fanatic, which is most certainly part of who I am. But it feels like it was a written as a cash-in on his death. A feature article or podcast swollen to book-length as a cash-grab. Well, I guess he’s got to get what he can.

Into The Void: From Birth to Black Sabbath – And Beyond by Geezer Butler

I’m a fairweather metal fan but I LOVE Black Sabbath – especially the first five albums. What a sound. What a band. What madness must lie at the heart of all that. Well, we get to hear about some of that from the band’s founder, bassist and lyricist. But he’s somewhat checked out also, dispassionate and also has that sad boomer-edge of whinging about how there’s no longer a music industry to support him – after all he took from it as a layabout who struck it lucky in an era when that could happen. Still, I loved the energy at the start of the book when dealing with those iconic first records and riffs. And I would recommend it for any fan. But nothing here really if you’re not already turned onto the sound of Sabbath.

Double Talkin’ Jive: True Rock’n’Roll Stories From The Drummer of Guns N Roses, The Cult and Velvet Revolver by Matt Sorum with Leif Eriksson and Martin Svensson

After seeing I’d read the Adler book, a kind soul offered me this newer volume by his replacement drummer in GNR. And I was super keen to read it. It’s not a well written book at all but it is interesting. Sorum was never my favourite drummer, but I’ve always admired his work. He has intersected with some legends and had some amazing timing and luck. The flip side of that is how nothing has truly stuck, meaning there’s also been some bad timing and hard luck. But we never quite see stories that way. Until we read them. So for that, this book was great. And worth it.

Phew. Well, that’s it for now. Those are the music books I’ve read this year. Along with one or two others I’ve previously reported on. And a few more that I have on the go right now – including books about Kendrick Lamar, Buddy Rich, The Ramones, The Beach Boys, Karen Carpenter, Levon Helm, Todd Rundgren, Nine Inch Nails, AC/DC, Sisters of Mercy, and the latest books by Bob Dylan and Tracey Thorn. So that’ll easily keep me sorted until the end of this year. And of course there’s more to catch up with all the time! Lol.

Anyway, see anything there you like? Anything you’ve also read? Or what music books, new and old, are you reading?